


Go Out & Love Someone

by bravobeavo



Series: I and Love and You [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coming Out, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oblivious Tony Stark, Tony keeps odd hours and Steve indulges him, Tony looks in Steve's sketchbook, Tony thought Steve was straight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23805340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravobeavo/pseuds/bravobeavo
Summary: “T'ny? Time 's it?" Steve looked drowsy, his brilliant blue eyes squinted against the dim lighting in the hallway and his voice gruff.His blonde hair was ruffled adorably and Tony's fingers itched to run through it and smooth the odd angles.Tony thinks his brain is making the old 90s dial-up tone.A/N: This is the missing confession scene from the fic ‘5 Times Peter Thought Iron Man and Captain America were Dating (+1 Time He Wasn’t the Only One)’.You do not need to read that work to enjoy this fic.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: I and Love and You [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715107
Comments: 23
Kudos: 277





	Go Out & Love Someone

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. Okay. Hear me out.
> 
> I meant for this to be a short fic just about the boys’ confession to each other before it led to a second chapter about their date night. 
> 
> But then I felt like I needed to elaborate on them becoming friends and falling in love and... well... this happened.
> 
> Rated T for language.

Tony wasn’t going to pretend that he wasn’t avoiding Steve, but he also couldn’t say that he wasn’t genuinely busy. It just so happened that S.I.’s R&D kick coincided with Steve being released from medical after the science museum robbery.

It had only been a few days so it was hardly suspicious; hell, Tony went on benders all the time where he spent hours, more often than not days, in the workshop on blackout from the rest of the Avengers.

So he was perfectly content to pretend that this was just one of those times, tinkering for hours on end and steadfastly pretending that he wasn’t replaying every moment of his conversation with Peter in his mind.

What if Peter had misread Steve’s intent? He hadn’t spent that much time around the Captain and Peter was...

Well, he was young and optimistic. If there was anything Tony had learned through his past tumultuous and often times disastrous relationships, it was that you should never get your hopes too high.

But this was _Steve_ and Steve was _different_.

Tony ended his playboy days long before the formation of the Avengers (turns out having a glorified glowing magnet in the middle of your chest surrounded by a myriad of ugly scars does things to a person's self-esteem) and after he and Pepper had realized they were better as friends, Tony had resigned himself to being single for the foreseeable future.

To put it morbidly, he’d realized that there probably wasn’t anyone out there who would put up with Tony being Iron Man and he was likely going to be Iron Man until it was the death of him; so finding love after ‘retiring’ wasn’t an option either.

He’d spent most of his nights convincing himself that he was alright with that prospect.

But then the Chitauri invasion happened.

And the Avengers move into the tower onto the floor between Tony’s penthouse and his workshop, because alright, he can admit that he’s a bit lonely and his team look like scraggly group of stray puppies so he decided against his better judgement and adopted them.

At first it had been weird, there was no other way to put it. Bruce walked on eggshells around all of them, though he was vaguely comfortable around Tony in the lab.

Natasha and Clint had been close prior and they grew closer as, in between SHIELD missions, Natasha tried to help Clint through the remaining trauma from Loki’s mind control. Unfortunately that meant that they were too preoccupied to focus on team-bonding.

Thor was jumping back and forth between Asgard and Earth, never really announcing when he intended to be around or for how long. And more often than not, he’d disappear off to see Jane.

For his part, Tony had thrown himself back into his work, coordinating with Pepper to repair the tower and beginning to brainstorm about what could be done to stave off threats from outer space.

And Steve... he had floundered for a little while. Tony saw flashes of him in passing when he was on his way out for a run or when Tony passed by the gym on his quest for caffeine or sustenance - Steve pounding away at the reinforced punching bags.

Tony was a big enough man to admit that there had been a tiny, selfish part of him that enjoyed watching the super soldier struggle. For all the praise and adoration Howard had given the man, he couldn’t adjust to the 21st century.

But then one night at an ungodly hour, Tony had emerged from the workshop to grab a protein bar and stumbled upon Steve lounging in the common room alone.

He was sprawled across the couch, his long legs stretched out languidly as he lay on his side with one arm tucked under the pillow under his head. His blue eyes were half-lidded in the glow of the TV and Tony paused as he took in the sight, feeling something stir in his gut.

Tony had known from the age of 13 that he was bisexual and it was never lost on him that Captain America was _fucking hot_. Because Captain America was a mixing pot that combined the body of an Adonis with Steve Roger’s all-American-boy face and aw-shucks grin, so yeah; he was drop-dead, make-you-weak-in-the-knees gorgeous, Tony knew that.

Steve had glanced up and let his lips curl into a lazy yet welcoming smile and Tony had found himself bypassing the kitchen to slink into the common room where he’d also ended up watching the rest of the movie with Cap.

And then they’d accidentally turned it into an on-purpose thing. Tony would trudge up from the workshop late at night and collapse on the couch with an acknowledging hum and Steve would glance up with a smile before starting the movie. He never explicitly said he was waiting for Tony, but it was more than mere coincidence.

In the beginning, through the first four or five movies, they hadn’t talked at all. But slowly, as they started incorporating some of the 30s/40s classics that Tony had never seen into the line-up of modern films for Steve, they had struck up a conversation here and there.

He was shocked, to say the least, whenever he and Steve got along as well as they did.

They had the same sense of humor for one, sarcastic and witty to a fault. They even had the same taste in food, with Steve enthusiastically ordering all types of cuisine for take out once as he figured out online ordering was a thing.

“You have a surprising variety in your diet for someone who probably grew up on meat and potatoes.” Tony had commented one night when they were shoveling Thai food into their mouths and watching Return of the Jedi.

Steve had chuckled good-naturedly, “Well, it was really just the potatoes; Ma couldn’t afford meat. And I suppose, but... it’s New York City,” he had shrugged and looked up at Tony with an innocent grin, “What’s the point of living in New York City if I don’t take advantage of the scene and try new things?”

And that was when Tony had realized that Steve was actually adjusting to the 21st century much better than Tony had thought. They went on to have several late nights/early mornings where Steve would sit and ask Tony question after question like an eager school boy.

When the night came that they stumbled upon the topic of LGBTQ+ rights, Tony had felt dread pool in his stomach like a rock. He was out to the world, but he couldn’t be sure Steve had looked into his sordid press history much to find the many public documentations of Tony's fail-riddled romantic history.

And while he was nervous about Steve’s reaction because he was starting to _like Steve_ (like _like-like_ Steve) he was even more nervous because there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Captain America was probably just like a lot of other men who grew up in the 40s.

Anti-Nazi and homophobic as hell.

So when he had hedged around the topic and Steve got quiet and pensive, Tony knew the ball had dropped.

Then Steve had looked at him with parted lips, “It’s... it’s legal now? For people to... to be like that?”

Tony had blanched at the phrasing, but he had nodded regardless, “Yep. Totally legal.”

Steve had nodded and stared at the ground for a while. He hadn’t been this quiet during one of their discussions since the night Tony had explained the history of nuclear warfare.

“How do people know who’s...?” Steve had shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Well,” Tony sighed and steeled himself, “They come out. Some people are still pretty bigoted and sometimes people stay in the closet, but most people come out.”

Steve had frowned at the phrase and the rock in Tony’s stomach felt like it had grown even heavier, “How do people... ‘come out’?”

Now it was Tony’s turn to shift uncomfortably; time to bite the bullet, he supposed.

“It depends,” Tony had said with shrug, “When I came out to the world it was in the form of paparazzi photos taken of me making out with a guy at a party at MIT.”

Steve’s head had snapped up and he stared at Tony with wide eyes, “You’re...?”

“Bisexual.” Tong affirmed as he swallowed back his nausea at the expression of shock on his friend's face, “Which, means I like men and women.”

“Oh...” Steve had turned his gaze back to the floor, his pink lips still parted.

“And... and what about a man who just likes men? What would that be called now?” Steve asked quietly, his blue eyes glued to the floor.

“Well that person would be gay. Homosexual.” Tony tilted his head as he watched Steve tap his fingers against his muscular thigh and tried to prepare himself for the moment Steve stormed off.

“Hm.” Steve hummed quietly and then he huffed a laugh of disbelief, “Wow, that’s... wow.”

“Look, Cap,” Tony took a breath, “If you’re not okay with it, I understand. You grew up in a wildly different time, I’m not faulting you for that, and I know that the future has been an adjustment, just... I’m just asking that if you aren’t okay with it, maybe keep your opinion to yourself about that particular topic?”

“What?” Steve’s gaze whipped up to meet his and Tony realized with a start that there were unshed tears in the younger man’s eyes, “No, Tony no, that’s not at all it, it’s just- I just-“

He seemed to struggle with the words, his lips moving, but no words coming out.

Then he spluttered out with flushed cheeks, “Tony, I would never- if- well... it would be awfully hypocritical of me, wouldn’t it?”

“You’re...?” Tony’s heart was pounding in his chest as Steve nodded slowly and licked his lips nervously, “Oh! Oh... but I thought Peggy...?”

“Peg and I were close,” Steve nodded, “She was the only one I told besides Bucky. We were friends and since we were a man and a woman, everyone just assumed. I wanted to put people straight, but Peg said it protected me from suspicion so we just... let the rumors spread.”

“Wow...” Now it was Tony’s turn to be speechless, ignoring the sudden spark of hope that had ignited somewhere deep in his chest.

Steve sniffed wetly and waved a hand at the engineer, “Sorry about the waterworks, just... I can’t imagine. Being with someone, out in the open. I... that must be... wonderful.”

Tony was quiet for a few moments as he let Steve collet himself, “Did you ever try...?”

“No, nothing aside from a few back alley kisses” Steve shook his head slowly, “It was especially risky in the slums, when you could get beaten to death for it and no one would bat an eye. Bucky... Bucky kept me in line whenever I got a crush on anyone. It’s not that he wanted to change me, he was just scared for me, hell we both were.”

The look in his eyes was faraway and solemn, his hands clasped firmly on his lap as he leaned back into the couch and took a deep breath.

They didn’t talk much more that night, instead focusing on the movie that had gone ignored for several minutes. But Tony had moved over to sit next to Steve on the couch and when he’d pushed his shoulder against the other man’s, the blonde had given him a shy, grateful smile.

So the movie nights became a regular thing. And eventually, the rest of the Avengers had trickled in and Steve had started ordering take out for all of them (after Tony had assured him twice that his wallet could handle it).

They became the strange, adopted family Tony had never known he’d needed and somehow couldn’t live without. He introduced them to Pepper and Rhodey who he invited to one of their many movie nights. Then Tony had scouted out Peter Parker around the same time that Steve met Sam Wilson when in DC on SHIELD business, bringing the two into the ranks after only a few weeks.

Thus their family of misfits grew.

And so did Tony’s feelings for Steve, despite desperately trying to tamp down on them.

So yeah, his conversation with Peter had both given him hope and scared the ever-loving shit out of him.

Because as much as he wanted _more_ with Steve, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing what they already _had_. Steve had become his _best friend_.

Which led him here, his third (fourth?) day hiding from Steve in the workshop. But he shouldn’t have been surprised when the entrance doors hissed open and Steve sauntered in with a hesitant smile, raising his hand clutching a plate that held a steaming helping of Bruce’s delicious homemade saag paneer. He’d forgotten the team was cooking in tonight.

“Think you can take a break from brainstorming about saving the world for a bite?” Steve asked as he approached the work table, “I hear you think better on a full stomach.”

“That’s you, Captain Human Garbage Disposal, not me. Despite what JARVIS and Pepper would have you think, I’ve had some of my greatest innovations on an empty stomach.” Tony joked as Steve chuckled and set the plate in front of him.

And damn it, this was why he was avoiding Steve; because despite the butterflies of anxiety crowding his stomach, it was as easy as ever to slip into their familiar banter.

Tony ignored those thoughts as he took the plate and proffered utensils, digging in as he realized how hungry he’d actually been.

Steve stayed quiet, slipping past him to settle into the small couch behind him and pulling out his worn, leather sketchbook that he had tucked under his arm.

“Getting close to the end on that one,” Tony observed innocently around a mouthful of warm naan as he waved a hand at the book.

Steve had leafed through three-fourths of the pages before finding an empty page to start sketching on. He smiled wryly, “Yeah, I was sketching a lot in the hospital.”

“How are you, by the way? Feeling better?” Tony flinched, unable to repress the sick guilt that bubbled up in his stomach at not checking on the super soldier sooner.

“Yeah, better,” Steve glanced up at him as he shrugged, “I’ve had much worse than a single bullet wound, you know that.”

“Sorry for not... uh, stopping by,” Tony muttered eloquently as he looked down at his plate.

“You’re allowed to be busy, Tony,” Steve said with a reassuring smile, “It’s not like I was on my deathbed.”

“Right...” Tony answered as he poked at his food and turned back to his work table.

Steve seemed content to sit in silence so they did just that, him sketching away on the couch and filling the workshop with the familiar wispy sounds of pencil on paper as Tony finished eating and got back to whizzing through the product design holograms that JARVIS had pulled up.

He hadn’t even realized that an hour and a half had passed when Steve stood with a wide yawn, stretching his long, muscular arms over his head with a muffled groan that made Tony blush.

His shirt rode up just enough to show a dusting of dirty blonde hairs trailing into the waistline of his jeans and Tony's mouth went dry as he stubbornly looked away.

“Ugh, I should probably head to bed. I promised Sam we’d train in the morning.” Steve said as he shuffled up behind Tony. He came to stand beside him, his hip cocked as he set his sketchbook down and leaned against the work table, “Hey, try to go to bed at decent time tonight, alright?”

“Ah,” Tony breathed steadily, ignoring how easy it was to smell Steve’s crisp cologne from this close, “Yeah, sure thing, Steve.”

Steve smiled at him softly before he grabbed Tony’s dirtied plate and moseyed up the stairs after giving the brunette a tired wave through the glass workshop doors.

Once the super soldier was out of sight Tony gave an exasperated groan and leaned forward, placing his face in his hands as he rested his elbows on the table.

 _God_ , he was such a goner for that man.

He lost himself back into the rhythm of work after that, idly sipping on the bottle of water that Steve had also brought him as he snacked on the remaining piece of naan that he hadn’t eaten with dinner.

He couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, probably hours if the dryness of his eyes was anything to go by, but at one point when he reached to the side without looking for the pen he knew had been left on the table earlier, his fingers knocked into soft, worn leather and he jumped as whatever he’d brushed clattered to the ground.

He looked down absentmindedly only to find Steve’s leather-bound sketchbook staring back at him, the pages knocked open by the fall and staying open, since the spine of the book was too worn down to hold the pages taut anymore.

Staring back at him was a black, white, and grey shaded sketch of the Avengers in the common room, complete with Peter, Sam, Pepper, Rhodey, and even Jane and Darcy, that spanned over two whole pages.

Tony smiled fondly as he leaned down to pick the book up and stared at the sketch, feeling his chest glow with a familiar warmth. There, just off-center, Steve had sketched the two of them sitting on the couch together sharing a happy, private smile that made Tony’s breath hitch.

Curiosity got the better of him and slowly, hesitantly, he flipped to the next page, surprised to find a sketch of himself. He was sprawled across the couch, his arm in a sling and his face littered with cuts and bruises. It was obviously done in the aftermath of an Avengers mission, but the way Tony’s face was drawn stole the breath from his lips.

The details were breath-taking, his dark eyes sparkling with an air of mischief and his lips sketched with a slight smirk to them that implied he'd probably just made a joke in bad taste.

Tony flipped the page again, his fingers trembling.

Page after page was filled with sketches of Tony in various positions; one of him in the kitchen with Natasha grinning behind a cup of coffee; one of him looking exasperated in the workshop with his arms spread wide facing a frustrated, but fond, looking Pepper who was holding out a clipboard; one of him lounging on the observation deck in the sun in a pair of sweatpants with no shirt.

Steve had paid careful attention to the definition of Tony’s lithe muscles, his sweatpants slung low enough to barely tease at the V of his hips and his aviators were perched low on his nose.

But what caught his eye was the way his chest was littered with the scars that surrounded the arc reactor and somehow, in Steve’s hand, he didn’t think they looked ugly as he usually did when he looked in the mirror. They looked complicated and intricate, each pencil stroke elaborate and careful. Tony had spent enough times staring at them in horror after getting out of the shower to know that they were drawn with exact precision instead of being messily rendered.

The sketches were intimate and clearly not rushed, Tony feeling his heart skip a beat as there was a nagging voice in the back of his head.

Everything that Peter had said, the way that Steve had drawn Tony and Tony alone, the fond look in his eyes whenever he brought things to Tony in the workshop, his happiness to simply sit with Tony in silence as they both worked-

Steve really was in _love_ with him.

Steve was in love with _him_.

Tony slammed the sketchbook shut and tossed it carelessly onto the work table, his feet carrying him out the automatic doors and up the stairs before he could even think a coherent thought beyond, ‘ _Steve was in love with him!_ ’

He hesitated for the briefest moment at the beginning of the hallway on the common floor before he pushed his feet forward and found himself in front of Steve’s bedroom door.

He raised his hand, lowered it, raised his hand again and paused.

 _Steve_ was in love with him.

He swallowed and knocked on the door. For a moment he thought that, despite Steve’s super soldier hearing, he hadn’t knocked loud enough. But then as he was warring with himself in his head about whether or not it was worth it to knock again louder, the door slowly slipped open to reveal the younger man’s slouched form.

“T'ny? Time 's it?" Steve looked drowsy, his brilliant blue eyes squinted against the dim lighting in the hallway and his voice gruff.

His blonde hair was ruffled adorably and Tony's fingers itched to run through it and smooth the odd angles, but that thought was quickly forgotten when he noticed the way Steve's sleep-rumpled white tee was pushed up to reveal a sliver of tanned skin just above the waistline of his sweatpants.

Tony thinks his brain is making the old 90s dial-up tone.

Steve rubbed his eyes as he yawned, and _really this super soldier could probably crush his skull with his bare hands so how was it possible for him to be so goddamn cute_? Tony thought as he ignored the fact that he was standing in Steve's doorway with his lips parted, not having said a single word.

The blonde sighed sleepily, "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No." Tony blurted, bouncing on the balls of his feet and suddenly thinking that he should have brushed his teeth before coming to Steve's room because his mouth tasted like black coffee and Indian food, "No, nothing wrong, per se. It's just that I was down in the lab, working on upgrades for S.I. and you left your sketchbook down there, which I would never look in without your permission, so it wasn't my fault exactly-"

"Tony...” Steve cut off his rambling and leaned heavily against the door frame as his half-awake amused eyes swept over the engineer's anxious stance, "My sketchbook? What're you talking about?"

"Nothing," Tony hoped that Steve wasn't going to hold his hands because they suddenly felt very cold and clammy.

Should he have moisturized? Wait, was that _motor oil_ underneath his fingernails?

_God, he didn't think this through._

So he did what he knew how to do best and he pushed the words out in one, rushed breath before he could convince himself to just flee, "Just that I saw your sketches of me and I realized that... that you're in love me."

Steve blinked at him, looking much more awake than he had a few seconds ago. His pink lips were parted in a small 'o' and his head was tilted in the way he did before he tried to deflect or clam up. Tony waved a hand before the super soldier could get a word out.

"See that's not the only thing you should know, the other thing that you should know is that, Steve, I am... pathetically, idiotically in love with you too.” His voice wobbled nervously, but he pushed on.

“And I don't know if that means you'll give this a chance because yes, it's probably a disastrous idea for Captain America and Iron Man to start dating, let alone the minor detail that I am a walking human disaster, but I'm not sure I can let an opportunity like this pass.” Tony rambled, biting his lip as he shut himself up.

"Uh..." Steve let out a breath and stared at him with his lips still slightly parted, his blue eyes muddled with sleepy confusion that was slowly clearing.

"I-I should let you get back to bed," Tony took a step back, wringing his hands in a sudden bout of anxiety that rode over his tense shoulders like a tidal wave, "Sorry, I don't even know what time it is."

"Wait, Tony-" With that super soldier speed that Tony was familiar with, Steve snatched his arm in a gentle grasp before he could get more than a few steps away, "Yes."

"Er-" Now it was Tony's turn to look confused, his mind spinning as he savored the warmth of the blonde's grasp seeping through his cotton long-sleeve, "Yes, it’s a disastrous idea or yes, you're in love with me?"

"I thought you'd already figured that part out on your own?" Steve tilted his head, blue eyes sparkling with amusement as his lips twitched.

Tony’s gaze snapped down to follow the movement and he breathed in slowly at the knowledge that Steve likely slept with his lips parted because they were just barely chapped. They reddened as Steve ran his tongue over them to moisten them.

Tony shook himself.

"Well, it was a hypothesis more than anything else, I only have the... the one piece of hard evidence." Tony answered sheepishly, hesitantly raising a hand to rest over Steve's own hand and biting his lip when he made contact.

Steve huffed a breathy laugh, "Yes, I want to give this a chance."

"Oh." Tony's heart skipped a beat, and _surely that was just the reactor acting up_ , but it made him suck in a breath, "As in...?"

Steve rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, "You know, you’re acting like you’re the one that was just woken up in the dead of night.“

He was teasing, the gentle smile tugging at his lips an indication, his eyes were soft, “As in I'd like to take you to dinner tomorrow night, if you'll have me. Or, tonight, depending on if it's late at night or early in the morning right now. JARVIS?"

"It is currently 3:47 A.M., Captain." JARVIS responded helpfully, the bastard sounding as close to amused as an A.I. could get.

Sometimes Tony wondered if being installed in Stark Tower was like reality TV for JARVIS.

"Oh." Tony was still staring at the blonde with wide eyes as he blinked and tried to ignore the flutter of excitement in his belly.

"And as in I'm going to kiss you now, if that’s okay?” Steve murmured, raising his other hand to rest on Tony's other bicep in a way that made goosebumps erupt underneath his shirt.

"Oh." Tony breathed, his lips finally twitching into a delighted smile as he lifted his chin and met Steve in slow, chaste kiss. His heart hammered in his chest and he sighed against the other’s lips as he raised his hands to the back of Steve’s neck. His fingers laced into the blonde’s ridiculously soft, sleep-mussed hair and Steve pulled back to smile down at him.

“You taste like stale coffee,” Steve muttered as his hands slid down Tony’s arms, tracing over his sides before coming to rest on his hips loosely.

“Rude. You taste like you’ve been asleep 6 hours.” Tony responded easily as he shimmied his hips and thrilled at the light squeeze he got from the super soldier.

Tony twiddled his own fingers at the nape of Steve’s neck, the tips of his fingers brushing through a few of the longer blonde strands and he sighed happily.

Later when he was in bed he’d probably start over-thinking things and worrying, but everything came so easily with Steve. Touch felt like second-nature when they were close, so he supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised at how simple this felt.

“I’ll have you know I went to bed at 11:30, so I’ve only been asleep for _4_ hours.” Steve answered with a boastful grin.

Tony shrugged and grinned at him, “Ooo staying up late, Captain. How rebellious of you. What would the American people say if they knew you weren’t getting the standard eight hours of sleep before your morning run?”

Steve rolled his eyes and leaned forward to shyly press a kiss to Tony’s cheek, ignoring the poke of stubble against his lips, “So, dinner at 7?”

“Sam‘s having a movie night. He told me Thor was inviting Jane so I told him to invite the spiderkid.” Tony mumbled as he suddenly began to realize how tired he was now that the adrenaline and nerves were fading.

Steve tilted his head and shrugged, “I’m sure we can make up for missing it. We'll order them pizza before we go.”

"You know they make jokes about us being Mom and Dad because we voluntarily act like their Mom and Dad?" Tony said, giving Steve an exasperated look.

The blonde shrugged again with a grin, "Someone’s gotta keep them in line. If we leave them to their own accords, they’re likely to burn your tower down.”

“ _Our_ tower. And we could always just count movie night as a date night,” Tony hummed, feeling ridiculous as unprecedented nerves bubbled under his skin and made his limbs feel tingly.

He and Steve had plenty of meals together. In fact, it was a tradition they tried to keep on a weekly basis when they were both in town. So a date wouldn’t be any different, but suddenly the idea of being alone with the blonde in even a remotely romantic environment was making his heart flutter anxiously.

“Well,” Steve’s blue eyes took on a mischievous glint as he looked down at the brunette, “This isn’t going to come as a surprise, but I’m a little old-fashioned. I like to wine and dine my fella on the first date.”

Both of Tony’s eyebrows shot up at the slip of that classic, Brooklyn accent into the blonde’s words, “Captain Rogers, are you suggesting what I think you are? I expected more modesty from a chivalrous gentleman such as yourself.”

His tone was pitched high as he tried to make himself sound like one of the old fashioned ‘dames’ that Steve had talked about, but halfway through his spiel his lips cracked into a wry smile.

Steve chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest that vibrated against Tony's, “I’ve been in love with you for the better part of a year, Tony, you’ll have to forgive me for being a bit impatient.”

“Wow,” Tony shifted on his feet and felt his cheeks grow warm, “It's really easy for you to say that, huh?”

He laughed a little nervously and felt a pang when Steve’s smile fell slightly, “Is that okay with you, for me to say that?”

“No, no,” Tony tightened his grip slightly on the hem of Steve’s t-shirt at his neckline, "I mean, not no that it's not okay just-"

Fuckity fuck, fuck, fuck. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet and Tony was already mucking things up.

"It’s just- it’s going to take some getting used to.” Tony said softly as he looked away shyly and mentally face-palmed at himself, “I just mean, you say that like it’s so... so easy.”

“ _Nothing_ is easy with you, Tony," Steve joked in a light tone as he pinched Tony's hip teasingly, "That's my favorite part.”

“You really are something else, Rogers.” Tony hummed as he fiddled with the hem of Steve’s shirt, “And... I, er, I love you too.”

Saying the words by themselves made his cheeks flush and his heart stutter, but Steve simply gave him a boyish grin that made Tony’s knees go weak.

“So, where are you planning to wine and dine the richest man in New York?” Tony joked as he changed the subject smoothly and tilted his head up at the blonde.

His mind swirled with half-formed thoughts as he went through his mental lists. He knew the foods that he and Steve both liked and he knew some of their favorite restaurants, but were any of those appropriate for a first date? Steve had chuckled about wining and dining him, but what if he actually wanted to go somewhere nice?

“How about the arepa place on the corner?” Steve asked after he had paused for a moment, “The place with the old lady that gives us extra food because you helped her granddaughter with her physics homework that one time?”

Tony blinked at him for a moment before his face split into a wide grin, “That... sounds _perfect_.”

Steve grinned at him and leaned forward to give him another soft kiss, their lips slotting together easily as Tony sighed contentedly. When Steve pulled back he loosened his grip on Tony’s hips and took a slow step backward, “You should get some sleep... and so should I.”

“Mmmm,” Tony hummed, his eyes still closed from the kiss, but he slowly blinked them open when Steve’s touch left him entirely.

“ _Goodnight_ , Tony.” Steve murmured in a warm, low rumble as he leaned against his bedroom door and pursed his lips to resist laughing at the sight of the swaying, sleepy engineer.

“G’night, Steve.” Tony said quietly, meeting the blonde’s sparkling blue eyes one last time before he turned and padded down the hallway toward the stairs to the penthouse, hearing Steve’s door click shut behind him and grinning at the electric warmth tingling in his belly. 

**Author's Note:**

> I will be doing a separate work for Stony’s first night together after their date. Coming soon! Does anyone have any specifics they'd like to see in that fic? 😏


End file.
